NSF & Congress

On May 5, 2017, President Trump signed into law a $1.07 trillion omnibus appropriations bill providing funds for federal government operations through Sept. 30, the end of the 2017 fiscal year (FY). The Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 244) received largely bipartisan support and became law with hours to go before a stopgap funding measure expired at midnight on May 5. The House approved the bill by a vote of 309 to 118 on May 3; the Senate vote was 79 to 18 on May 4.

Title III covers funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and other science agencies. The measure provides $7.472 billion for NSF, an increase of $8.73 million, or 0.1 percent above the FY 2016 enacted level. It provides $6.034 million for the Research and Related Activities (RRA) account; $209 million for the Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction (MREFC) account; $880 million for the Education and Human Resources (EHR) account; $330 million for the Agency Operations and Award Management (AOAM) account; $4.37 million for the National Science Board (NSB) account, and $15.2 million for the Office of Inspector General (OIG) account. The MREFC account includes funds to support the construction of three Regional Class Research Vessels; the NSF request was for the construction of two vessels.

In other news, the budget request to Congress for FY 2018 is scheduled to be released on May 23.

For tools and resources about the impact on NSF's investments, please see the NSF Toolkit.